The number and types of electronic devices that are commercially available have increased tremendously the past few years and the rate of introduction of new devices shows no signs of abating. Devices, such as tablet, laptop, netbook, desktop, and all-in-one computers, cell, smart, and media phones, storage devices, portable media players, navigation systems, monitors, and others, have become ubiquitous.
Power and data may be provided from one device to another over cables that may include one or more wire conductors, fiber optic cables, or other conductor. Connector inserts may be located at each end of these cables and may be inserted into connector receptacles in the communicating or power transferring devices.
Power and data may be distributed among these devices in various ways. For example, power may be provided by a charger to a host device. A portion of this power may be used to charge a battery in the host device. In other configurations, a host may receive power from a charger and provide power to an accessory at the same time.
In such conventional systems, distributing power is often straight forward. But devices may have power connectors that may either provide or receive power over one of the connector contacts. This means that a device may have a bidirectional power connector that may receive power or provide power to a device that is connected to the bidirectional power connector. Moreover, other may receive power over two or more connectors. This may cause conflicts as the device attempts to receive power. The presence of multiple connectors or bidirectional power connectors may confuse devices attempting to distribute power in an electronic system.
Thus, what is needed are methods, circuits, and apparatus to distribute power among devices in an electronic system where a device may receive power from one or more sources or may have a bidirectional power connector.